Winston Smith

Punk Art Surrealist

Trump Hates MeWinston Smith

San Francisco punk art genius Winston Smith statement regarding Trump's feelings towards anyone who can't afford to golf on one of his courses.

Singing In The Reign Of TerrorWinston Smith

This piece could easily be re-titled, Singing In The Reign Of Republican Terror

Bringing The War HomeWinston Smith

The Trump Administration & Congress is dropping economic bombs on the very voters who put Trump in the White House.

When The Lights Go On All Over The WorldWinston Smith

People will finally realize the many faces of the con man they elected.

Punk Surrealist Artist Winston Smith Video

VICE sips a few beers and chats with Winston Smith, legendary punk artist and Dead Kennedys logo creator. Winston talks about the San Francisco punk scene, Dada, and art in America. There are some nice shots inside San Francisco's fantastic Collage Art Museum.

Santa Is My Co-PilotWinston Smith

Winston Smith New York Cover, April / May 2000Winston Smith

Welcome to the Trump money tree. However, the middle class & the poor are banned from the orchard. Sad.

Winston and John firmly agree they'll use "Art As A Weapon" against ignorance, hypocrisy, bigotry, & greed.

Punk Artist Winston Smith (Info From His Website)

Punk Art Surrealist Winston Smith, a master of “hand-carved” collage, has been crafting his thought-provoking art since the 1970’s. After being abroad for six years, Winston returned to America and was astonished by the complacency the American public exhibited towards the corporate domination in their society. Winston began taking “safe” images from magazines and combining them to create politically charged works of art that challenge the viewer to confront incongruities and political paradoxes of modern society.

Smith first became known (and later beloved) for his collaborations with punk legends Dead Kennedys and his numerous album covers, inserts and flyers for the band in their formative years. His technique of cutting out by hand and gluing each individual element has inspired a generation of artists.

In 1981, his political shock piece, Idol (pictured above – originally conceived in 1977) brazenly adorned the Dead Kennedys album, In God We Trust, Inc. That album, banned in England and condemned by the American religious right, landed Smith and Dead Kennedys a permanent spot in the punk culture “Hall of Shame.”

Even more infamously, the “DK” logo that Smith created and designed for the band in early 1980 remains an international symbol of protest against authoritarianism. Popularly described as an icon or emblem, Smith’s mark has been carved, sprayed, and tattoed into history on school desks and park benches, walls and tattoos all over the world.

Smith is also responsible for the famous Alternative Tentacles logo for DK front man Jello Biafra’s record label.

The visual left hooks that Smith threw into the underground punk scene in the 1970’s and 80’s are now impacting a much wider audience. He has designed over 50 record covers for bands including Green Day, Burning Brides, Jello Biafra, George Carlin and many more. He most recently collaborated with blues-rock recording artist Ben Harper for Harper’s album White Lies for Dark Times with his band Relentless 7 (Virgin).

Winston Smith’s art for Green Day’s Insomniac album was voted one of the top three favorite CD covers of 1996 in a Rolling Stone Magazine Readers’ Poll.

His images have also appeared in (and on the cover of) such well known magazines as The New Yorker, Playboy, Spin and many more; and numerous book covers and inside illustrations, such as Greg Palast’s best-sellers The Best Democracy Money Can Buy and Armed Madhouse.

Smith’s career has been acclaimed in numerous books and films chronicling the punk rock era as well as in college level text books. See his Dossier for a complete list.

His images have also appeared in (and on the cover of) such well known magazines as The New Yorker, Playboy, Spin and many more; and numerous book covers and inside illustrations, such as Greg Palast’s best-sellers The Best Democracy Money Can Buy and Armed Madhouse.

Though Smith primarily uses the medium of collage, he is classically trained in Renaissance art, having left the U.S. in 1969 to study at the Academy of Fine Arts in Florence, where he lived for several years before moving to Rome.

Over the last 35 years, Winston has had numerous one-man shows in San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York City, London, Berlin, Antwerp, Rome and Tokyo, as well as group shows throughout the United States and Europe.

Winston’s transition from underground rebel to nationally recognized illustrator was chronicled with the release of his debut volume of collected works Act Like Nothing’s Wrong (Last Gasp, 1994). Since then, he’s had two more volumes, Artcrime (Last Gasp, 1999), and All Riot on the Western Front (Last Gasp, 2001).

The Exhibition Features Artists With Integrity & Courage

John Heartfield’s grandson, the curator of The John Heartfield Exhibition, knows his grandfather’s photomontages were not simply reactions to leaders who place their own interests above all. Heartfield’s artwork was a warning. It was a roadmap to how bigotry, injustice, fascism, and senseless wars infect politics when their opposition is weak. “My grandfather understood that one of the strongest tools of fascism was propaganda, the unchallenged ability to distribute nonsense in the media to discredit facts.”

Heartfield’s grandson built and maintains The John Heartfield Exhibition as living tribute to his grandfather’s legacy. It is also a growing online museum to display art and artists with integrity, courage, and compassion. You can help promote “art as a weapon” against fascism and senseless war by purchasing great items from the The John Heartfield Exhibition Shop or contributing even a small amount to help the exhibition continue to grow.